The last Sunderland side to have travelled to Bournemouth have scattered far and wide in the intervening decade, writes Blake Burns.
From undisputed England No1 to the second tier of Turkish football, and from coaching U14s in the UAE to fronting club takeover consortiums.
The last Sunderland side to have travelled to Bournemouth have scattered far and wide in the intervening decade. But exactly where are each member of the starting XI which won 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium in November 2016 – a rare away victory in a torrid season which saw the Black Cats relegated to the Championship after 10 years of Premier League football – now?
Jordan Pickford
The boyhood Lads fan and Sunderland academy product had his breakthrough season during the 2016-17 campaign, racking up 29 Premier League appearances and earning his first England call up in October 2016 – although he actually didn’t play for the Three Lions until November 2017. Pickford left Wearside to join Everton for £30million after relegation to the Championship – a club record sale at the time.
Now 31, the shot-stopper has made 347 appearances for the Toffees since his move. Pickford has also made 81 appearances for England, reaching the 2020 and 2024 European Championship finals. He has strong claims to be the country’s greatest ever goalkeeper behind World Cup winner Gordon Banks.
Billy Jones
Billy Jones spent three years at Sunderland and is best remembered on Wearside for his goal against Newcastle in the 2015-16 season as the Black Cats recorded a sixth successive victory over the old enemy. The right-back played 96 games in all for the Black Cats and was involved in the club's back-to-back relegations before making the switch to Rotherham United. Jones retired from football in 2021 and joined Shrewsbury Town academy in 2022 to help support younger players. Jones is still at the Shrews and coaches their U15s and U16s.
Lamine Kone
Kone had been hailed as Sunderland’s saviour in the 2015-16 season after scoring a brace at the Stadium of Light in a 3-0 win over Everton to secure safety and relegate Newcastle and Norwich. The Ivorian centre-back was linked with a move the following summer after just six months on Wearside, with Everton favourites for his signature. But no deal was struck, and Kone signed a new contract on Wearside.
The defender was unable to help the Black Cats avoid the drop in May 2017, and made 24 Championship appearances the following season as they were relegated again. But he then soured his legacy, before making a loan move – made permanent at the end of the 2018-19 season – to Ligue 1 club Racing Strasbourg. The defender announced his retirement in August 2025 after two years without a club since leaving Ligue 2 side Le Mans.
Papy Djilobodji
Djilobodji was the first arrival of the David Moyes era, signed for £8million from Chelsea. But the defender only made 24 appearances for the Black Cats – and played just once for them after receiving a retrospective four-game ban for throwing a punch at West Brom captain Darren Fletcher during a defeat at The Hawthorns in January 2017. Following Sunderland’s relegation, Djilobodji made a loan move to French side Dijon followed by a failed spell at EA Guingamp. The 37-year-old has been in Turkey since 2019 and currently plays for Sariyer in the second tier.
Patrick van Aanholt
The Dutch full-back was a hit on Wearside, making 95 appearances and scoring nine goals. But he left for Crystal Palace in January 2017, and later said: “I did not enjoy David Moyes’ training sessions. Eventually I lost my love for the game and went into the dressing room feeling annoyed every day.”
Van Aanholt made well over 100 league appearances for Palace before leaving England for Turkish giants Galatasaray in 2021. After three years in Istanbul, he returned to Holland for a loan spell with PSV Eindhoven last season and now plays for Sparta Rotterdam, making 11 Eredivisie appearances this season, but is yet to play a game in 2026.
Didier N’Dong
N’Dong arrived at Sunderland on deadline day in 2016 for a £13.6 million fee which stood as a club record for almost nine years. The Gabon international made 54 appearances in red and white, scoring once in the 4-0 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, but failing to prevent relegation from the Premier League.
After the Black Cats were then relegated for a second successive season, the club then terminated N’Dong’s contract, meaning he will forever go down as one of the most disastrous signings in Sunderland’s history. Still only 31, N’Dong currently plays for Esteghlal in the Iran Pro League. The midfielder also represented Gabon at AFCON 2025, playing all three matches as the Panthers failed to pick up a single point.
Steven Pienaar
Pienaar arrived from Everton in the summer of 2016 and made just 17 appearances for the Black Cats. In terms of key contributions, the two yellow cards he picked up in Sunderland’s last game at the Vitality were just about it, as the South African never scored or created a goal for Sunderland. After his one-year contract on Wearside came to an end, Pienaar returned to his homeland, ending his career at Bidvest Wits in 2018.
The midfielder was appointed as Everton’s first ever International Ambassador in April 2018, specifically focusing on building a brand in Africa. He then coached at Ajax between 2019 and 2023, eventually becoming assistant coach of the U18’s. The now 43-year-old is currently coaching Sharjah FC U14s in the United Arab Emirates.
Paddy McNair
Northern Ireland international McNair arrived on Wearside in a two-player deal from Manchester United with defender Donald Love. McNair started the win at the Vitality in central midfield where he played for most of his spell in red and white. The midfielder was later converted to a centre-back during his time at Middlesbrough. Since leaving Boro in 2024, McNair had an unsuccessful spell at West Brom featuring just three times before heading to America and playing 26 times in the MLS for San Diego.
But the now 30-year-old recently signed for Championship promotion contenders Hull City and, as a regular for Northern Ireland, is hoping to help his nation book their place in this summer's World Cup via the upcoming play-offs.
Duncan Watmore
Watmore broke into the Sunderland first team in the 2015-16 season, making 23 Premier League appearances under Sam Allardyce and scoring three goals.
But the winger had a torrid time with serious knee and ankle injuries on Wearside and made only 87 appearances across all competitions before being released in the summer of 2020. He joined Middlesbrough a few months later, spending two and a half seasons at the Riverside before joining Millwall – for whom he scored a winner in a Championship game at the Stadium of Light in April 2024 - in a £1.6m deal. Released by the Lions last summer, Watmore – now 31 - recently signed for League One Rotherham United as a free agent.
Jermain Defoe
The matchwinner on that November day at the Vitality, Defoe finished among the top 10 Premier League goalscorers, finding the net 15 times despite Sunderland finishing rock bottom of the table on 24 points. The former England international then joined Bournemouth after the Black Cats’ relegation, with a clause in his contract allowing him to leave for free. Defoe moved to Scottish giants Rangers in January 2019 – initially on an 18-month loan but later on a permanent deal – before returning to Sunderland on deadline day in January 2022 on a free transfer.
But the striker featured only fleetingly in the Black Cats’ march to the League One play-offs, making seven appearances and starting just twice before announcing his retirement after a 0-0 draw with Lincoln City in March 2022.
Defoe is now an in-demand media pundit, making TV appearances on various platforms including Match of the Day, and has his own BBC podcast - “Jermain Defoe: Outside the Box”. The now 43-year-old also released a 90-minute documentary in 2024 on Amazon Prime which featured him discussing his memories of Bradley Lowery – who Defoe befriended during the Sunderland-supporting youngster’s brave battle against cancer.
Victor Anichebe
Anichebe made his first Sunderland start the last time they made the trip to Bournemouth, after arriving on Wearside as a free agent having previously worked with then-Black Cats boss Moyes at Everton. Anichebe went on to make 19 appearances in red and white, scoring three goals, before moving to Chinese League One club Beijing Enterprises Group in 2017, where he scored twice in 11 games before retiring late that year.
The former Nigeria striker is now a sports executive and administrator. Last year it was heavily reported that he was leading a consortium takeover bid of National League club Gateshead.
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